Justice may have finally caught up with power, but the battle for possession is far from over. On September 1, the Supreme Court of India delivered a landmark judgment that ended what is being called the country’s longest-running probate battle—a 36-year contest over the vast Khetri estate worth an estimated Rs 3,000 crore. But the fight may not be over—the Rajasthan government is still stalling the handover, facing contempt risk.

The Court ruled that the inheritance of over 180 properties—forts, palaces, havelis, and farmlands—rightfully belongs to the Khetri Trust, created by Raja Bahadur Sardar Singh, the last ruler of the Khetri princely state. The Rajasthan government, which had seized the properties under the Escheats Act soon after the Raja’s death in 1987, was found to have acted

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